Kingdom of Harracktor
The Kingdom of Harracktor is one of the three kingdoms established after the Awakening. The Kingdom of Harracktor was the main focus in Overture 3. History The Kingdom of Harracktor began as remants of the Scots traveled eastward to escape the Ancient Races and arrived in Harracktor where they would establish a society. The history of the Kingdom of Harracktor can best be told by recounting the exploits of each king. King Bukoski I The first king of Harracktor was arguably the most humble of the line, but by no means was his rule insignificant. Under his guidance, the kingdom's capital city of Xanadu was built albeit without a castle to grace its borders. Having just come out of the great war, funds and laborers (besides the dwarven slaves recently captured) were in short supply. The king and his family made do with living amongst the people and it is said that this was a major contributor to his successful reign. Later in his life, the treasury had enough funding from the taxes imposted on the miners who mined the riches beneath the soil. With it the construction of the royal castle began, but King Bukoski did not live to see its completion. With his wife, the Lady Anne of Naturelles, he bore two children, one of whom was a son who would carry on the line. King Bukoski II Albert Bukoski II was left with a castle to finish and the threat of a dwindling treasury once more. With such an unstable economy and no official currency to speak of, Harracktor was a poor choice for investment by the merchant caravans. Bukoski II sought the counsel of the the more stable and experienced King Harlaw of Naturelles and together they settled upon a currency that would be used throughout the three kingdoms: the King's Square. Eager to see the coffers fill, Bukoski II then raised taxes substantially, earning enough to see the completion of Castle Xanadu but earning himself the ire of his people. He died fairly young of unknown causes though most speculate poison to be to blame. His death brought turmoil to the royal family as his wife had not given him a male heir. The succession was kept within the family through his sister and then to her son, who was legally renamed Albert Bukoski III and heir to the throne, much to his surprise. King Bukoski III Unprepared for the trials of leadership, young Bukoski III knew not what to expect during his reign. It was during his time that the kingdom of Carnetrada, which had remained silent and almost forgettable since the war against the ancients, began to spread its influence. There had always been reports of kidnappings and murders in Harracktor – no civilization exists without its crimes – but they began to occur with greater frequency. Throughout the kingdom, families would find their maiden daughters missing: entire villages would lose much of its population overnight, whisked away from their beds as if they had never been there at all. The King thought little of it until one fateful night when it was his own daughter, Princess Maret, was counted among the missing. Panic struck the King. The guard saw its ranks swell as search parties were sent to comb the landscape, looking for any sign of the missing girls. What they found instead was a band of nomadic Carnetradan wizards, black-robed and masked in that strange way of theirs, and a terrible trail of bones and blood. War erupted near instantly. Messengers sent to Carnetrada were returned as mere skulls picked clean of flesh with strange runes and glyphs burned upon the bone. A raven did reach King Bukoski from the dreaded Wizard King taking full responsibility for the murders, proclaiming that their blood was used to sate the call of the demon god Lyeench. Demands for return of the princess, or at least her remains, were ignored. The fighting was fierce and terrible, with both sides taking great losses, seemingly evenly matched between the ungodly powers of the Carnetradans and the military might of Harracktor. King Bukoski III was killed in one such battle and once more the succession was sent to a nephew, this time returning to the original line to Albert Bukoski IV. King Bukoski IV Bukoski IV was known to be reclusive, a fact which was rather off-putting to his subjects. It was paid little mind, however, with the war raging against Carnetrada. These skirmishes found themselves slowing down as though the kingdoms themselves were tiring of getting nowhere. It was later discovered that the king had something of a rivalry with his younger brother, Chuck Bukoski, the second Duke of a region called Von Masta. Despite the rules of succession, there were many who felt that Chuck was better suited to rule. It is unknown how exactly Albert Bukoski IV died but it is well known that Chuck was not long to fall after. Only speculation hints at what might have occurred within the castle, for the guards were expressly forbidden to speak of it. Albert IV's heir, born from an Enconian noblewoman called Lady Cartagena, took the crown soon thereafter. King Bukoski V Of all of Harracktor's kings, Albert V's legacy was the smallest though perhaps not quite as insignificant as some historians make it out to be. It was during his reign that a truce was finally called in the war between Harracktor and Carnetrada. The terms were quite simple: the Carnetradans would remain out of Harracktor if Harracktor stayed out of Carnetrada. “Silence for peace,” said the Wizard King and ruler of Carnetrada, and so it was that the forests wherein the kingdom was rumored to exist was marked forbidden on penalty of death. Though the fighting had come to a stop, there still remained a great tension and unease; the secret of Princess Maret's disappearance was never solved and Carnetrada was not forthcoming with any answers. In addition, though none of the wizard-kind were seen again in Harracktor, pirate activity seemed to increase, with entire bands supposedly paid with rune-spells and enchanted weaponry... King Bukoski V raised two children,:Princess Anne II and Albert VI, the latter of the two being next in the succession of kings. Bukoski V passed away an old man in a time of restless peace. King Bukoski VI The peace brought about by his father could only last so long. One of the ancient races, the Orcs, were noted to be stirring most prominently around Naturelles. Before the horde could turn upon Harracktor, Bukoski VI ordered the construction of a town near the edge of the deserts in which the orcs were said to move. This town was named Vons Masta after the province in which it was built and it became a key staging ground for the defense against orcish invasion. A unique group of warriors was founded there, dubbed “Snake Eaters” at first because of their need to consume the venemous snakes that lived in the deserts so they could survive. Vons Masta was annexed in order to keep the Snake Eaters placated and they were officially named a warrior faction of the kingdom. With their help, Harracktor was able to shut down the migration of orcs into Naturelles and together the threat was crushed completely. King Bukoski VI would die and be suceeded by his son, King Albert Bukoski VII. King Bukoski VII After the sudden death of his father at the age of sixteen, one could argue King Bukoski VII was not ready for kingdom. Shortly after his coronation he would foolishly sign a treaty that would allow Carnetradian citizens to enter his kingdom unabated. This would lead to his downfall when the Carnetradians would create a plague and Bukoski would contract it, shortly dying afterward. King James I Even younger than his father was when he became king, King James I was six years old when his father died and he was left the throne. King James I did not accomplish much in the way of politics, rather he was a puppet for his advisers. When King Landus led the Harracktorians to Carnetrada after he was overthrown, King James I foolishly went as well where he would meet his end, ironically killed by the body that was once his fathers. Grimval Laft With no king and no heirs left, the Kingdom of Harracktor found itself without a king. Unusual for the kingdom, the next King was decided in a democratic process, he was elected. Grimval Laft, hero and chosen one of the Sacred Sword would be chosen as king. After defeating Artheemius Lyeench, Grimval, with the aid of his advisers would lead the Kingdom to the current prosperity it has now. Category:Kingdoms Category:Overture 3